Reynard brings Gecko to iPhones running iOS 13

A new experimental browser called Reynard aims to do something Apple’s mobile browser rules have long blocked: run Mozilla’s Gecko engine on iOS 13 and later instead of WebKit.

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The project is primarily aimed at users on older iPhones and iPads whose bundled WebKit versions can no longer keep up with modern sites. Because WebKit ships with the OS, those devices often cannot get browser engine updates. Reynard instead uses Gecko — the same engine behind Firefox on desktop and Android — which the developer says can keep sites working independently of Apple’s system browser stack.

The browser is still in an early experimental state, with the developer warning users to expect bugs and missing features. It is available through the project’s Releases page, with different install paths depending on device and OS version:

• TrollStore for iOS 14 - 16.6.1, 17.0, using Reynard-TrollStore.tipa
• AltStore or SideStore for iOS 17.0.1+, using Reynard.ipa
• A jailbroken iOS 13 path using Reynard-Jailbroken.ipa with Filza File Manager and AppSync Unified

The developer says LiveContainer is not supported, and sideloading methods that rely on a distribution certificate are also unsupported.

The project includes comparison screenshots showing sites such as github.com, chatgpt.com, and apple.com rendering incorrectly in Safari on older devices but loading in Reynard.

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The developer says the project began as an experiment to see whether Gecko could run without BrowserEngineKit, then evolved into a broader effort to improve UIKit integration, patch bugs, and turn it into a usable browser. Build instructions are included for developers, requiring Xcode, Python 3, Rust and Cargo, and ldid. The code is licensed under GPL v3.0, except for the patches directory for the Firefox Gecko engine, which is under Mozilla Public License 2.0.